1. Field of the Invention
The invention disclosed broadly relates to the field of vehicle windshield cleaning systems and more particularly relates to the removal of substances using pressurized fluids from vehicle glass and mirror surfaces.
2. Description of the Related Art
The build up of "road grime" on motor vehicle and non-motorized vehicle surfaces such as windshields, mirrors, side view mirrors, rear windows, motor cycle fairings, motorcycle helmet face-shields, headlights, taillights and any other surface on a vehicle is problem. Road grime is any foreign substance including water, dirt, pollution, pollen, salt, and insects or equivalent that reduce the visibility through a surface such as a windshield. Road grime can be any combination of foreign substances such as dirt combined with water or simply one foreign substance such as water by itself. The reduction in the ability to see through transparent surfaces is hazardous and can greatly reduce the operational safety of a motor vehicle. Other substances such as water from rain or lawn sprinklers also decrease the visibility through a surface not only by reducing light transmission but also by distorting images.
One solution to remove water droplets from vehicle surfaces, such as windshields for automobiles, boats, planes and even the U.S. Space Shuttle is the use of windshield waxes such a RAINEX brand windshield treatment. Windshield waxes and equivalent products work by causing water to bead-up on a windshield surface. The beading water is blown off by the aerodynamic effects of air flow across the windshield when running the vehicle. The windshield wax system works well at highway speeds but as the vehicle's speed decreases, the resulting aerodynamic flow of air decreases which in turn reduces the effectiveness of removing the beading water. Moreover, as with any wax coating on a surface, windshield wax is worn away by the elements of weather. As the wax coating wears out, the effectiveness of the water beading decreases. Accordingly, a need exists for a system to remove water droplets from a vehicle surface that overcome these problems.
Another solution to clear windshields is windshield wipers. In fact windshield wipers are used on everything from airplanes to yachts. One class of vehicle which has not had great success in integrating windshield wiper technology is motorcycles and personal water crafts. These vehicles with small fairing or no fairing are especially ill suited for windshield wiper use. Operators of motorcycles wear goggles or face-shields attached to helmets. Windshield wiper motors, along with the mechanical linkages and the accompanying power sources are not only unsightly if attached to a motorcycle helmet, but these components can add a pound or more of the weight to the helmet itself. The additional weight pressing down on the head can be uncomfortable to users, especially on long trips. Therefore, a need exists to provide a solution to clean off face-shields, fairings, goggles and other surfaces without the weight and unsightly appearance of windshield wipers.
Other motor vehicle and non-motor vehicle transparent surfaces besides windshields employ windshield wiper technology. These transparent surfaces include headlights and rear windows. Windshield wiper technology requires the use of electrical motors and corresponding motorized linkages. The cost of the electrical motor can be prohibitive, especially in applications other than windshields such as the removal or road grim off of head lights, tail lights or side view mirrors. The use of windshield wiper technology depends on the rubber blades of the wipers being in good condition and pliable. Many times, the blades on the wipers are not changed and the effectiveness of the removal is decreased. The use of windshield wipers are many times also hampered by the weather. Build-up of frost, snow, and ice severely limits the effectiveness of windshield wipers. The cold weather may freeze the windshield wiper blade to the windshield or freeze the windshield wiper mechanical linkages. This render the windshield wiper inoperable. When the weather is dry, dirt trapped on windshield wiper blades can permanently scratch a windshield, especially when the windshield wipe-blade is dragged over a dry surface. Moreover, windshield wiper blades protrude even in the off position and are prone to being damaged by automated car wash equipment. Therefore, a need exists to provide a substance removal system that can augment the use of wiper blades to overcome these limitations.
Another solution that exists for helmet wearers is the use of squeegee systems. Squeegee material or other material such as suede cloth is fastened to the user's finger. The squeegee or suede cloth can also be integrated into a rider's glove. These devices necessitate that the driver take one hand off the handle bars and swipe his face-shield with the squeegee attached to his finger. This system may be effective, but the requirement to momentarily let go of the handlebars with one hand while operating a vehicle is undesirable and in many circumstances dangerous. The squeegee or cloth system can be especially hazardous in heavy rain. The frequency to swipe a motorcycle's face-shield or goggles must increase and therefore the frequency the driver must remove his hand while operating the vehicle correspondingly increases. Moreover, many cloth systems become saturated after a few uses, and the ability to remove water and other substances off a surface is greatly diminished. Accordingly, a need exists for a system to clear face-shields, goggles and fairing to overcome these problems.
Still, another method for removing road grim on motorcycle face-shields is called tear-offs. Tear-offs are thin sheets of transparent plastic material, such as acrylic, that are layered one sheet on top of another over the face-shield and fastened at each end. The use of tear-offs is especially common in off road racing or motor-cross racing where the motorcycle driver reaches up and tears off a layer of the plastic as the layer becomes covered with road grim. The tear-off system is very effective in the off-road environment with mud and dirt. But this system like the squeegee or cloth system requires that the rider take a hand off the handlebars when removing a strip. Moreover, the system does not work well in the rain because of the limited number of strips, and the proclivity of water to get trapped in between the layers of the tear offs and caused distortion of the rider's view. Therefore, a need exists to provide a system for removing "road grime" including water that is not limited by the number of layers of plastic sheets attached or that requires the driver to remove a hand from the handlebars to tear off a sheet.
Still another method for removing road grim on motorcycle face-shields is automated transparent film advancement systems. These systems work like convention 35 mm camera film advancement mechanisms where a motor driven spools draws film from a supply spool. The film is guided over the front of the face-shield as film is guided over the aperture of a camera. The film is a transparent plastic film. Whenever the current plastic film surface is soiled by road grim, the rider activates a motor to advance the film over the face-shield area. This apparatus, like the windshield wiper is unsightly and heavy. As mentioned for the tear off, this method is limited by the amount plastic film and this method has the proclivity of getting water trapped between the film and face-shield blurring the driver's view. Finally, this system is not effective in heavy rain because the film supply is limited and will run out after a set number of advancements. Accordingly, a need exists for providing a substance removal system that will overcome these problems.
Unfortunately, several surface areas on vehicles experience static, neutral or even slightly lower areas of air flow. In fluid dynamics this is sometimes referred to as boundary-layer separation or just simply fluid separation. This can occur at boundary areas such as the lower edge on an automobile windshield where the windshield meets the hood of the car. In many automobile designs, this is the area along the bottom of the windshield where the windshield wipers are stored when the wipers are in the off position. These static areas become more pronounced as the vehicle increases in speed. Road grim becomes trapped in these regions where boundary-layer separation occurs. This build-up of road grim in these area reduces the visibility through these areas. Therefore a need exists to control the boundary-layer separation areas to more effectively reduce the buildup of road grim.